Stressors in childhood

One stressor that I can think of about my childhood was poverty. My family was poor not that I knew it at the time. We weren’t as poor as some people are but my parents had to watch what they spent. I never really knew that we were poor. My parents made sure we had what we needed. For most of my early childhood my mother was the only provider, she was an elementary school teacher. My father was laid off from his job. He worked odd jobs to make money. They made sure that we had new clothes for school but back then I never really realized that they weren’t the “label” names that everyone else was wearing. I still never considered us poor because we were rich in love and family. Our family took care of each other and was there when we needed something. I don’t know how my parents really did it but I’m happy that they did. They raised me to understand that money isn’t what it’s all about. You just need enough to survive and be able to provide for your family. I know that my husband and I are a little better off than our parents were but I am still instilling the same values that my parents instilled in me. They know that they are loved and that they get want they need. They also know that sometimes we just can’t get something just because we want something.

In Thailand the one main stressor is something I talked about in my last blog. It is disease that is causes stress on the child. Some of the diseases that are affecting Thailand are HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, and even Polio. The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) have been working in Thailand (World Health Organization [WHO], 2010). They have been planning and working systematically on the building of the disease immunity since 1977 in order to lower the illness and deaths due to the diseases that could be prevented by vaccination (WHO, 2010). The last survey of the primary vaccine coverage in 2003 found 95 percent coverage of children less than one year of age, who had received BCG and 3 doses of DPT, Polio and hepatitis B (WHO, 2010). The coverage of pregnant women with TT was 90 percent (WHO, 2010).

World Health Organization [WHO]. (2010) Thailand: National Health System Profile. Retrieved from http://searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Thailand_Thailand_final_031005_WT.pdf

Immnizations

The public health topic I choose to talk about is immunizations. This is a very important topic where I work. At Early Head Start, we work with families and educate them on why immunizations are important. We have had some families chose not to get the immunizations for their child. Being a Federal program we have to document that all children in the program are up-to-date with their immunizations, and if the family chooses not to get the immunizations we have to have them fill out a paper stating that.

Currently this past week here in my hometown there is an outbreak of Pertussis (whooping cough). Now everyone is concerned about getting their child to the doctor and getting a vaccination. My children are all up-to-date on their immunizations but I am still worried because I know that there are children that are in contact with my children that are not up-to-date. This is something that not only affects the child that doesn’t receive immunizations but it also affects the children they come in contact with.

The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) have been working in Thailand (World Health Organization [WHO], 2010). They have been planning and working systematically on the building of the disease immunity since 1977 in order to lower the illness and deaths due to the diseases that could be prevented by vaccination (WHO, 2010). With the passage of time, the work on expanding immunity cover has been increasing the varieties of vaccines and the target groups, and from time to time adjusting the schedule of vaccinations, according to the changing epidemiological conditions (WHO, 2010).

There are some accomplishments from the past efforts (WHO, 2010). The last survey of the primary vaccine coverage in 2003 found 95 percent coverage of children less than one year of age, who had received BCG and 3 doses of DPT, Polio and hepatitis B (WHO, 2010). The coverage of pregnant women with TT was 90 percent (WHO, 2010).

I thought it was great that they were working on getting all the children immunized in Thailand. I know in the United States immunizations is a hot topic of discussions. Some people think that immunizations have side effects or cause medical issues. I think the research that I have been doing about Thailand will help me find different ways to work with families here in the United States.
I have included a link to the United States' Immunization schedule and also Thailand's Immunizations schedule to compare.

United States      Thailand

 References:

World Health Organization [WHO]. (2010) Thailand: National Health System Profile. Retrieved from http://searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Thailand_Thailand_final_031005_WT.pdf

Childbirth - in My life and around the world!

The birthing experience I have decided to talk about is the birth of my oldest child. The reason I think her birth sticks out more than the other two is because she was my first child. I remember going to Lamaze classes with my husband, he was the only male in the class so of course he had to be the class clown. Needless to say he really didn’t pay attention so when the time came when I went into labor he didn’t have a clue what to do. It was a Sunday morning, and I wasn’t feeling good so I decided to stay home from church. He decided that was the perfect excuse to go to Erie, PA. We live two hours from Erie. I told him that I didn’t think it was a good idea and that I was having contractions. He decided since they weren’t that close together we could make it up and back before the contractions got too bad. We got half way there when I screamed “I REALLY DON’T THINK THIS IS A GOOD IDEA!” He finally asked how close they were. The contractions were 5 minutes apart. We made it to the hospital in record time. By the time they checked me I was at 3 centimeters and it was 3:00pm. At 4pm I was 4 centimeters, 5pm I was 5 centimeters and so on. Throughout this wonderful time of being in labor, it took 3 times and an hour to get finally get my epidural in my back, my husband almost passing out while they tried to get the epidural in me. The next thing that happened was my daughter’s heart rate went down so I had to lay on my side facing the wall. I started getting feeling back in my legs and told the nurse that I thought something was wrong with my epidural and she told me it was fine. My husband spent most of his time with his family and ignored me, his wife who was the reason we were at the hospital to begin with. At 9:00pm when they came to check me, my husband decided I would probably only be at 9 centimeters so he left the room and went outside to get fresh air. Needless to say, I was 10 centimeters and it was time to push, a nurse had to go find him. The nurses finally realized that what I was saying about my epidural was correct, it had been leaking onto the floor so I had some feeling back when it was time to push. In the process of pushing my daughter decided to show that she really didn’t want to come out. She had turned just a little bit but just enough I couldn’t push her out without help. The doctor tried the vacuum/suction and every time it came off her head I felt it and she would shake her head in the birth canal. It was a very strange feeling. Next he had to use the forceps, this worked and my beautiful baby girl was born. She had a cone-shaped head for awhile because of the vacuum/suction and bruises on both of her cheeks from the forceps. I knew from the first time I saw her that she was going to be a handful. She had a mind of her own even before she was born and six years later nothing has changed.

I researched how childbirth is similar and different in Thailand. It was interesting because I assumed that it would still be a lot of home births but in the example I found on the UNICEF website, it is 90% hospital births. I found it interesting that registering the child’s birth was a very important issue. Here in the United States the hospitals make sure each family get the paperwork and gets it filled out after birth. That was one thing I didn’t have to worry about.

Among the many things on the “to do” list of 30-year-old Namaoy Satrom, who the day before had given birth to a healthy baby girl at Udon Thani Provincial Hospital, was something she had never realized the importance of before: registering her child’s birth (UNICEF, 2010).
“The nurse kept reminding me to register my baby at birth,” said Namaoy, an Udon Thani farmer. “I didn’t understand before that my child could miss out on many important things in life if she doesn’t have a birth certificate (UNICEF, 2010).”
Namaoy was one of thousands of parents in Thailand who are still unaware of the need to officially register the birth of their children with local authorities.  Some parents confuse the delivery certificate they receive from the hospital when their children are born with the official birth certificate issued by the civil registrar office.   In order to receive a birth certificate, the parents or relatives of a newborn must bring the delivery certificate to the local civil registrar’s office so that the birth can be officially recorded (UNICEF, 2010).
A reproductive health survey carried out last year by the National Statistical Office found that more than 90 per cent of children in Thailand are born at hospitals.  However, an estimated 5 per cent of children born each year, about 40,000 children, are not registered at birth.  These births are not being registered even though the law states that any child born in Thailand, including to non-Thai parents or parents who have no legal status, has the right to be registered and to obtain a birth certificate (UNICEF, 2010).  

UNICEF (2010). Ensuring the 'first right' online. Retrieved November 4, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/thailand/reallives_14441.html

Hello Everyone!

Hello to the familiar "faces" from EDUC 6005 and to the new "faces' of EDUC 6160.

Thought I would introduce myself again.

My name is Alison Carson. I am a proud mother of three children ages 6 years old, 3 years old, and 2 years old. I also have been married for 6 1/2 years and yes if you can read between the lines, I was 7 months pregnant when I got married. The past 6 1/2 years have been full of adventures and it's never been a dull moment in the Carson household.

In October of 2007 I started working for Community Services of Venango County in their Early Head Start Program as a Home Visitor. As a Home Visitor, I had a caseload of nine to twelve families. My goal was to teach the parents/caregivers that they were their child’s first and best teacher. In April of 2010, our agency expanded into another county and I became the Program Supervisor/Education Coordinator for the new county. I supervise six home visitors who serve seventy-two slots. Slots are either pregnant women or children birth to three years. As a Home Visitor and as a Program Supervisor/Education Coordinator we need to be careful about how we treat our families. We have to learn about their cultures and their beliefs so we can better serve them.